Jinju-si Conducts Free COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing for All Citizens

Free Testing Available at Private Medical Institutions Even Without Symptoms
City Fully Covers Additional Citizen Costs Beyond Government Support Fees

COVID-19 testing is being conducted at the COVID-19 screening clinic in Jinju-si, Gyeongnam. (Photo by Jinju-si)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Jinju City, Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 17th that it will provide free diagnostic testing for all citizens for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The city is proactively expanding diagnostic testing to reduce asymptomatic or latent infections in the community in response to the third wave of COVID-19. This follows the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' efforts on the 9th to curb the spread of COVID-19.

To prevent overburdening the public health centers at the forefront of quarantine efforts, epidemiologically linked tests will be handled exclusively by public health centers, while other cases will be tested at private medical institutions within the jurisdiction.

However, although testing at private medical institutions is free, separate personal expenses such as consultation fees ranging from 6,000 KRW to 30,000 KRW per person occur, making it difficult to encourage voluntary participation from citizens.

Accordingly, the city has agreed with general hospitals and hospital officials in the area to support 20,000 KRW per person for general hospitals and 6,000 KRW per person for hospitals.

Gyeongsang National University Hospital, a tertiary general hospital, is excluded from the support for personal expenses for free testing as it is dedicated to treating severe patients.

The funding will come from the disaster management fund, and the payment method is that when diagnostic testing medical institutions submit claims, the public health center will make the payment.

A city official urged, “Please actively undergo testing, keeping in mind that each person who willingly gets tested is the strength that protects our society, for the health and safety of all citizens.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.